A Night of Voguing

Joey Phillipo, Staff Writer

A Night of Voguing was an event put on by the GSA that included workshops from HBO Max’s “Legendary: The House of Escada at 7p.m. on Wednesday Oct. 27 in the Weston Auditorium. The event taught the audience the five elements of voguing as well as ball culture. The aspects include duck walk, hands, floor, spins and dips, and the catwalk. 

HBO Max’s Legendary is a streaming series on the culture of ball and the talented vogue houses. In vogue/ball there are various houses that do performances and shows. The House of Escada members are from Boston and include London Escada, Jazzul Escada and Yoyo Escada. London started voguing to express their feminine side. The event began with a colorful stage presence and a large crowd as Mother London (London Escada) came to the stage with the other house of Escada members: Yoyo Escada and Jazell Escada. London Escada throughout the night and workshop spoke a lot about history and their personal experiences with vogue/ball and connections to the LGBTQIA+ community. 

Around 25 members of the audience volunteered to be on stage as part of the workshop that included various stretches, dances, and exercises while London continued to dive into the history and details of various aspects of voguing. The audience was informed about the underground aspects and how it became a sanctuary for many in the LGBTQ+ community. After a vogue studio with no windows was burned down by molotovs, it became more underground.

More exercises and dances were taught to the volunteers with some becoming increasingly difficult and causing some to have to take a break or leave the stage. The majority of volunteers made it through the unique workout-like exercises. After each lesson, a break was given that consisted of leg shakes where one lays on their back and shakes their legs in the air to loosen up for the next move. The duck walk was a main focus as it is a crucial aspect of vogue performances as well as one of the hardest for the volunteers to grasp. The members of the House of Escada and the audience were extremely supportive of everyone trying their best at the moves and exercises that are vogue and ball.